Royal Institute of Philosophy Lectures
We hold regular Royal Institute of Philosophy events in which leading philosophers are invited to Keele to talk about their research and answer questions from the audience. This is perhaps the most popular invited lecture series in the university and anyone interested in philosophy is welcome to attend.
2026-27 Lectures
All lectures will be on campus at Keele. Please email Jonathan Head.
Invited lecture series
We hold regular Royal Institute of Philosophy events in which leading philosophers are invited to Keele to talk about their research and answer questions from the audience. This is perhaps the most popular invited lecture series in the university, and anyone interested in philosophy is welcome to attend.
We are delighted to announce two exciting events in this upcoming semester:
Tuesday 10th February 2026: May Sinclar: Philosopher and Novelist
With Dr. Rebeca Bowler (Keele), Prof. James Connelly (Hull), Dr. Claire Drewery (Sheffield Hallam), Prof. Colin Tyler (Hull)
May Sinclair was an innovative and influential modernist novelist. She was also an Idealist philosopher. This talk brings together the editors of the first four volumes of the Edinburgh Critical Edition of the Works of May Sinclair, which will publish, in tandem, Sinclair’s two books of philosophy alongside her two most philosophical novels.
This event will be at 5.30-7pm in CBA 0.060 (Chancellor’s Building) on the main Keele University campus.
Tuesday 17th March 2026: “But you’re her mother”: The moral exploitation of women in family decision-making
Talk by Dr. Christina Easton (Birmingham)
Mental load – the cognitive and emotional labour required to keep our lives running smoothly – tends to fall more on mothers than fathers. It’s increasingly recognised that this has a negative impact on mothers’ mental health and their ability to compete on equal terms in the workplace. But in this talk, I’ll discuss an overlooked aspect of this unequal division of labour: that with the increased mental load comes increased moral load. Mothers shoulder a greater share of the moral burdens of parenting, including increased exposure to moral risk (the risk of doing wrong). I’ll argue that this is unfair and that it amounts to a form of structural moral exploitation. After defending this claim against objections, I’ll offer some reflections on how this unfair situation might be remedied.
This event will be at 6pm in CBA 0.060 (Chancellor’s Building) on the main Keele University campus.
These invited lectures are held in association with the Royal Institute of Philosophy, Keele-Oxford-St Andrews Kantian Research Centre, and the Forum for Philosophical Research, Keele University.
All enquiries to: Dr Jonathan Head - 01782 733515
Former speakers have included:
2022/23: Steve Tromans, Cristina Chimisso, James Tartaglia, Jon Pike, Davide Cadeddu, James Kirwan, Keith Crome
2021/22: Julia Jorati, Sean McGrath, Annalisa Coliva, Tom Clark, Arthur Ripstein, Stanislava Dikova, John Grey, Raymond Tallis, Markus Schrenk.
2020/21: Lucy Campbell, Edward Thornton, Nicholas Maxwell, Gabriel Dupre, Chiel van den Akker, Zachary Vereb, Paul Roth, Arthur Ripstein.
2019/20: Dr Javier Cumpa, Dr Mary Leng, Dr Henry Taylor, Dr Matthew Leisinger, Dr John Shand, Dr Holly Lawford-Smith, Dr Maria Rosa Antognazza.
Darragh Byrne, Sophie Allen, Jonathan Webber, G.A.J. Rogers, Geraldine Coggins, Anthony Wrigley, Raj Sehgal, Andy Hamilton, John Divers, Rob Hopkins, Luc Foisneau, Daniel Nolan, Paul Bou-Habib, J.J. Valberg, Lucas Meyer, David Efird, Monika Mookherjee, Ann Whittle, Max Kölbel, Paul O’Grady, Dan O’Brien, Neil Gascoigne, Daniel Hutto, Thomas Dixon, Lorraine Code, Dermot Moran, Roxana Baiasu, Julia Tanney, Peter Baumann, Lilian Alweiss, Adrian Haddock, Denis McManus, Paul Gorner, Penelope Mackie, Gordon Finlayson, Robert Hanna, Philip Meadows, Adrian Moore, Stephen McLeod, Nafsika Athanassoulis, Rowland Stout, Sebastian Gardner, Paul Faulkner, Miranda Fricker, Peter Niesen, Glen Newey, Maximilian de Gaynesford, Maria Alvarez, Constantine Sandez, Ralph Walker, Richard Grey, William Child, Katerina Deligiorgi, Stephen Wilkinson, Helen Beebee, Chrisopher Bennett, Stephen Boulter, Nils Kurbis, Danièle Moyale-Sharrock, Matthias Klaes, Jens Timmermann, Helen Steward, Alberto Vanzo, Daniel Whiting, John Hyman, Lilian O'Brien, Sam Coleman, Marcia Baron, Geoffrey Scarre, Michelle Montague, Marianna Antonutti Marfori, Alessandra Tanesini, Paula Satne, Lisa McNulty, Roger Teichmann, Peter Kail, Fiona Hughes, Scott Sehon, Katerina Deligiorgi, Graeme Forbes, Oskari Kuusela, Jonathan Way, Alice Pinheiro-Walla, Robert Stern, Philip Goff, James Kirwan, Stephen Mumford, James Andow, James Lenman, Clayton Littlejohn, John Cottingham, John Callanan,Marit Hammond, Guy Bennett-Hunter, Amie Thomasson, Giuseppina D’Oro, Alex Papazoglou, Paul Giladi, Hans Bernhard Schmid, Stephen Makin, Nicholas Waghorn, Jonathan Head, Shane O'Neill, David Leech, Ralf Bader, Michael Bacon, Emil Visnovsky, Catherine Abell, Fiona Ellis.
